Community Center will benefit from silent auction fundraiser

    Area residents have a chance to purchase a unique rustic diamond painting, and support the Imperial Community Center in the process.
    Thanks to the efforts of Angela Lewis, who is cook/manager at the center, a silent auction fundraiser she is spearheading could help bring in funds for the facility.
    Like most businesses that rely on income from meals, the Imperial Community Center was hard hit by COVID the past year, which also brought months of closed doors.
    This is one way she can help out, Lewis said.
    The painting, titled “Deere Country” is by Michael Humphries. Lewis created the diamond painting from his design.
    It measures 5 feet long and 4 feet high, and is surrounded with a distressed barn wood frame made by Danielle Koenig of Grant. The barn wood came from the local area.
    Lewis said she spent more than 400 hours on the creation, over four months, meticulously placing the minute square pieces as she followed the painting’s pattern.
    Lewis has arranged for “Deere Country” to be on display at businesses until mid-February. While at each business, people can submit silent bids in a bidding box she’ll have on location.
    She will update the highest bid regularly, she said.
    The starting bid has been set at $500.
    Bids can be left in the bidding box, or send a text to Lewis at 308-883-0776.
    The winning bid will be announced Feb. 14.
    “It was going to be a gift,” Lewis said of the painting, “but then I thought it would be nice to donate it to the center and auction it off.”
    She said it’s been financially tough for the center.
    After COVID, “We lost a lot of people who were coming to the center,” she said.
    Many haven’t returned even though the center is open for its noon meals again, five days a week.
    The monthly Sunday buffets are likely a thing of the past due to difficulty in getting volunteers, she added. Those were a big fundraiser for the facility.
    Lewis encourages people to consider having lunch at the center. It’s just $7 per meal, she noted. People must sign up by 9:30 a.m. the day they plan to eat there.
    Here is the schedule for the painting’s business locations where bids can be submitted. The painting is making its first stop at Country Ford.
    The painting will be at each location for a full week starting with the date listed.
    Nov. 29—Country Ford
    Dec. 6—Harchelroad Motors
    Dec. 13—Troxell’s Heating & Appliance
    Dec. 20—Adams Bank & Trust
    Dec. 27—Adams Lumber
    Jan. 3—Adams Drug
    Jan. 10—Frenchman Valley Coop
    Jan. 17—McNair Agency
    Jan. 24—Chase County Community Hospital
    Jan. 31—21st Century Equipment
    Feb. 7—Imperial Community Center.